Why read Five Came Back?

Book cover of Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War

Book description

“One of the great works of film history of the decade.” —Slate

Now a Netflix original documentary series, also written by Mark Harris: the extraordinary wartime experience of five of Hollywood's most important directors, all of whom put their stamp on World War II and were changed by it forever

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Why read it?

1 author picked Five Came Back as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Brooke L. Blower

Author

Only a small fraction of the millions of Americans in uniform during World War II were engaged in combat operations. Harris’s well-researched account zeroes in on the service of five Hollywood directors, who, like many other professionals, were asked to adapt their civilian skills to wartime needs.

Tacking back and forth between Washington and other stateside locales and posts far afield—from Midway and the Aleutian Islands to North Africa and Italy—the book’s carefully drawn action conveys the far-flung exploits of filmmakers during the war as well as how those experiences impacted their craft.

From Brooke's list on surprising histories about Americans abroad during WWII.